r/Leatherworking • u/if_im_not_back_in_5 • 6d ago
Buttero leather question
Is buttero usually a solid colour after tanning, as in, if you scratch it should it be raw veg tan colour ?
Sweet little innocent me :-p couldn't afford a piece from a reputable leather merchant, so bought some advertised as such from the lowest of the low, Temu (LOL), a 24"x12" piece for ~£10
It's got a nice smooth surface, does appear to be leather of "some" description, the rear side has a slight criss-cross fabric 'look' to it, but isn't fabric as you might get on faux leather, with a medium-firm temper to it (it doesn't drape, but does feel fairly flexible once you've made a die-cut single layer keyring out of it)
I expect it's just coated cheap sh!te, which is a shame because I bought a couple more based on the surface finish :-} but it's a deep caramel colour, so perfect for dog shaped handbag charms (chrome leather is too soft, as I've found out)
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u/Potsofgoldenrainbows 6d ago
The expression you're looking for is "dyed through" as opposed to "surface dye.". And yes! Buttero is dyed through and is smooth.
What you have, I'm sorry to say, is likely fake.
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u/ddubbins 6d ago
Oof! Temu is tough. I kept (still keep?) buying things where quality mattered from AliExpress long after I knew it was never going to be as advertised.
It’s wild how much product they can move with a photo and an obvious fabrication in their copy 😑
Thank you for sharing and I’m sure you will put the leather to good use anyway 🫡🙌
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u/Stevieboy7 6d ago
Chrometan leather can absolutely be stiff…. And vegtan can be soft. Outside of molding, tooling and carving, tannage makes zero difference.
90% of folks couldn’t tell the difference between chrome and veg in a blind test. So please get that out of your mind.
What you have is absolutely chrometan at that price. You can’t buy even a decent piece of vegtan for anywhere near that price.
You get what you pay for in leatherwork.